My weekend away

Welll I went the ball, and it was great! I'm not going to give you a blow by blow account because frankly I don't have time. So instead Im just going to show you some pics which you were probably wanting more than a story anyway.

This is Sarah Anne and I. Now I didn't like my hair and make up too much. Ive looked better. But Oh my, Sarah Anne looked incredible! She is so gorgeous and she looked absolutely stunning that night! I was very jelous!

This is Adam and I! Hes pretty much the man. We go wayyy back to Sarah-Annes birthday last year :P

Heres another pic of Sarah Anne and I. Seriously! Look how hot she is! (These three photos were taken on my cellphone... thats why the quality isn't too good)

Toby... the grumpiest horse I know. Sure he doesn't look grumpy here, quite the opposite really. But let me assure you, this is one grumpy horse. I'm pretty sure he doesn't like me which is fair enough since I rode him when really I was a crap rider and I probably didn't treat him right. Unfortunately hes had to be retired because of an injury. We went to visit him on Sunday afternoon

Toby and I! I've come to the conclusion he doesn't recognise me. If he had I just know he would've taken off at a gallop around the paddock with me clinging helplessly to his back (he has done something like that before)

Heres me being Farmer Jane. We had to get some hay for one of the horses who was so lame I was sure he was going to have to be put down. He really only just had a stone bruise and was making a big deal out of nothing.

Here Adam is carrying a tiny, piddly bit of hay. I had just carried a massive amount across to the horse and Adam thought he would 'help'.

This is Johnny.. hes the oldest and slowest horse out! Hes the beginners horse at camp. What a sweetie.

Sarah Anne and 'bunnydog' Jess. Jess hates that costume with a passion but we thought she was feeling a bit cold (it was the coldest day of winter so far)

So there you have it! Some pics from an awesome weekend!

I'm off on a adventure

An adventure to Taumarunui! Thats right, today is the day before the Ball! You might remember from my post Happy Days, I told you that Sarah Anne was coming to Auckland to shop for ball accesories, and I must say we were very sucessful. Sarah-Anne got some awesome silver shoes, 2 necklaces, a bra and some sunnies (those sunnies aren't for the ball but they were only $5 so we couldn't pass them up). I got some slighty big, but still awesome white shoes, a necklace and 3 pairs of sunnies :) My shoes were only $10! And I bought some white ribbon last night so I can tie them onto my feet. Haha yes I know, doesn't sound that nice but really it looks alright. And no-one will see them anyway since I'm wearing a long dress.

To keep this post horse related we have also decided to take some horses up to the top of one of her many hills and have a picnic on Sunday. We did this once before and it was great fun! Actually I remember being rather scared during this adventure because we were chased by two young yearlings up this incredibly muddy track at a mad gallop. Luckily I was in front most of the time so it was Sarah Anne that got plastered by mud, not me :) I still don't like Oddfellow (one of those pesky yearlings) because of that day, but all in all that picnic was a great success.

So my readers (haha yes.. my readers) don't expect any posts until Monday night. There is a chance I might be able to do a quick post while I'm there but I expect I shall be having too much fun! I hope you all have a great weekend! Stay safe and don't get yourself into too much trouble! And by the way I'll be taking heaps of pictures so I hope your looking forward to them as they will be posted right here on A Girl and Her Horse!

Auf Weidersehen!

Red is getting It!

So I went out to see Red today after three days off and I decided to do some lunging with him. If you remember from my previous post Going in Circles, I had a hard time getting Red to slow down. Well folks hes got it! Hes brilliant at the downwards transitions! I only once had to reel him in to slow down and the rest of the time he did it immediately. I was so proud :D I think all the hard work I've put into him this winter has really paid off! I can not wait for the show season, its going to be great!

In other news, look out for pics of Red in his spiffy spare Winter Cover coming up, its electric blue and hes pretty much the man in it!

Adieu!

Pony Club Website

If you are interested you can take a look at

My Pony Clubs Website

Its got some awesome pictures of everything that happened during last season, so go have a squiz.

Nothing new to report with Red. I've got a chest infection so I'm not allowed to go see him until I get better in case I get even sicker!

O well, life moves on!

Happy riding, especially those in the Northen Hemisphere summer. I envy you and all your sun!

Happy Days!

So this weekend is pretty cool so far... and its about to get a WHOLE lot better. Because you see, in the next hour my best friend will be arriving at my house! I haven't seen Sarah-Anne for about 7 months since she lives in Taumaruni, which is a little hole (sorry all you Taumarunians out there) about 5 hours drive away from Auckland. Actually its really only about 4 hours but my dad drives slow so it makes it longer. Sarah-Anne is pretty much awesome! We've been friends for about 6 years now and shes been part of my most fondest, and funniest memories to date.

Take the first time I went to stay with her for example. We were in one of her huge paddocks seraching for some horses to ride and we had looked everywhere. These horses seemed to have just vanished off the face of the earth. We were walking along a little sheep track when Sarah-Anne pushed me off the track and onto the grass, it was all good until I fell into a little swamp. Now people, you have to give me credit. At this point I had only been on a farm a handful of times, and being from the Auckland suburbs I couldn't tell the difference between grass and the green grass like stuff that sometimes grows on top of these little swamps. My right leg sunk into the swamp up till my thigh while my left leg was still on dry ground, and no matter how much I tried I couldn't get my leg out of the sticky, muddy swamp. So I appealed to my dear friend for some help. Well instead of coming to the rescue and pulling me out, Sarah Anne was laughing. She kept laughing for about 5 minutes while I still fruitlessly tried to get myself out of the swamp. After her hysterics were over she grabbed my arm and pulled me out. My boot was filled with mud and my whole leg was plasted with it. We then figured the horses were at the top of the paddock, and so we had to trudge up the huge hill we had just come down (seriously this hill is huge, we've often talked about how we would like to install a pulley system so we wouldn't have to walk up it). We found the horses, saddled up and went for a ride.

So Sarah-Anne has come up to Auckland to go Ball Acessory shopping. Her ball is next week and she invited me so we hopefully will find all we need today. I can't wait! Heres two pictures of Sarah-Anne and I:

In other news, yesterday it was quite nice and sunny so some of my friends and I decided we should give our horses a wash. I ended up only washing Red's tail because I didn't want all the warm, protective grease to come out of his coat. My friend Simone and I had a water fight, I got her really good with the hose and then she tried to get me but she never did. So i stayed completely dry. The worming guy came to worm all the horses. Red reared up on him when he stuck the tube in his mouth! Red has always been head and mouth shy, although hes way better then when I first got him, but never have I seen him react like that before. The guy wasn't too worried though, he just calmed him down and then did it. He said it was his fault because he didn't give Red much warning. He then weighed Red, and he mesured him. I can't remember his weight but he is 15.2 1/2 HH. I thought he was 15.2 so thats pretty good. When Simone bought her horse Rocky, the owners told her he was 15.1HH. He is in fact 15.0HH which I think she was a little pissed about, but hes a great horse anyway.

Well until next time...

Beautiful winter mornings

The last two mornings have been stunning! First we are treated with a beautiful light show over the water, city and surrounding islands. Then the lights give way to a bright blue sky, and a warm sun which takes most of the winter chill out of the air. I was fortunate enough to be able to go riding both mornings and I'm sure the beauty of the mornings helped Red and I do some awesome dressage and fun jumping work! Seriously everyone needs to learn how to appreciate mornings like this because they can really keep ya going. Here are some pics from this morning!

This is a pic of Auckland! Well Auckland city. I work right by that tall building (The Sky Tower for those who aren't locals :P)

This pic here is off the sky tower (far right), the Habour Bridge (that lil hump in the middle) and Rangitoto Island (the big island looking mass on the middle left). We get this view from Te Atatu Peninsula. Incredible isn't it?

And here is Rangitoto Island. This Island is awesome, I've never been there (which is shocking because I've lived in Auckland my whole life) but its totally round so you get the same view from everywhere. And you get great pics like this with it. I really must go there some day.

All the jumps I did today are piddly because they were set up like that when I got there and I couldn't be bothered changing any of them. Im sure Red got sick of them.

The biggest jump set up!

A girl and her horse... plus their shadows (sorry that was kinda lame :P)

A little bit of cuteness

So I'm part of this Endurance Forum called Ridecamp. Yes it is a weird place for me to be loitoring but I am quite interested in the sport of Endurance and I wouldn't mind getting into it one day. Anyway one of the members posted some pictures of her horse and I just wanted to share with you one of them. This is Dixie...









And this is her compared to another horse:






Isn't she the cutest thing you have ever seen! Especially with that mask! I honestly think this is the cutest minature I have seen in my short life. Just look at her will you?! Look at those short little legs, chubby stomach and gorgeous mane. But what really does it for me is the Fly Mask, it really is the icing on the cake of cuteness. Oh man this picture makes me laugh whenever I look at it! The pony is just adorable. So yes, I just wanted to share her so she might brighten up your day some! I certainly needed it considering the atrocious weather that is battering Auckland (and the rest of NZ) today.



Happy Riding...

Since I have nothing too exciting going on with Red at the moment I thought you might wanna have a squiz at some of my old show/riding pics. Please note... most of these pictures were taken last season when my jumping position was shocking and I had no clue about what I was doing, next season I'm sure I'll have better pics lol

This is Red and I at the Waitangi Day Rally, it was heaps of fun!

Another waitangi day picture

This piccy was taken at the last ODE of the season. Please observe how I am leaning to one side, I had lost one of my stirrups half way through the phase and I was trying to stay on my horse which I sucessfully did :)

In case you don't realise from our amazing costumes we are Pirates with Pirate Horses. Our idea stemmed from Emilys pony Wuzzle who unfortunatley lost an eye to a growth last year. She had a patch lol

So this is us in the water jump at PC. If I remember correctly you are looking at (from left to right) Captain Mayhem, Mad Dog Molly and Scallywag Sally aka Nicola, Emily and myself.

Another pic from Henderson Valley ODE. This is the last jump of the cross country.

Yep so there you have it! Next seasons going to be my best season yet so some awesome pics are defintley going to be on the way.

Girth Galls

So it looks like Red has got the start of some girth galls which is realllllllly annoying! He's never had them before so I'm thinking hes getting a little bit fat at the moment with the horses now getting hay every day and that his girth is getting too tight! So I guess its some bareback riding for us until the lumps go away.

He is also starting to get a infection kind of like rain scald or mud fever on his back so I'm going to give him a iodine wash, I don't want it spiraling out of control like it did when I first got him. He had scabs filled with pus the size of a golf ball all over him then. Its all the silly winters fault I tell you! I can't wait for summer! And the new season, its going to be an amazing season I can feel it already!

I went to a sleepover on Fri night with some of my PC friends. We started these sleepovers this off season and they are always fun. They usually consist of lots of junk food, movies, silliness and no sleep. We had a video camera this time so we did lots of stupid home videos of us fighting. The next one is at Emilys house in a few weeks hopefully, so I can't wait!

Well I shall be off now! I've got some Blue Heelers to watch :)